HR and Payroll Month in Review – February 2018: Ontario

Employment StandardsFeb.: If the employment rights and duties poster currently posted in your workplace is based on the ESA laws before Bill 148, you need to take it down and replace it with the new, streamlined version of the poster which the MOL just issued to account for the Bill 148 ESA changes that took effect on Jan. 1. As always, you can get the poster for free from the MOL website. And, speaking of Bill 148, don’t forget the other ESA changes taking effect later this year and at the start of 2019 (as summarized in the chart below):

Bill 148: Next Waves of ESA Changes

EFFECTIVE APRIL 1, 2018

Issue

Change(s)

Equal Pay for Equal Work

Pay equity extended to include not just sex but temporary, seasonal, casual and part-time employees (subject to exceptions for seniority, merit and productivity)

EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2019

Issue

Change(s)

General Minimum Wage

Increases from $14 to $15 per hour

Employee Work Schedule Refusal Right

· Right to refuse employer request to work unscheduled day on less than 96 hours’ notice unless work is to deal with emergency or public threat to health or safety

· Right to request changes to work schedule or location after 3 months’ employment—if request denied, employer must furnish reasons in writing

Call-In Pay

· Employees “on call” who aren’t called to work or are called and work less than 3 hours entitled to 3 hours’ wages

· Employer must pay 3 regular hours’ wages if it cancels employee’s scheduled day of work or on-call period on less than 48 hours’ notice

Pensions—PBGF AssessmentsJan. 29: Public comments closed on proposed changes to the formula for calculating a pension plan’s annual assessment for purposes of the Pension Benefits Guarantee Fund (PBGF). Highlights: